Delphi 

(/ˈdɛlfaɪ, ˈdɛlfi/; Greek: Δελφοί [ðelˈfi]),[a] in legend previously

called Pytho (Πυθώ), in ancient times was a sacred precinct that served as the seat
of Pythia, the major oracle who was consulted about important decisions throughout the
ancient classical world. The oracle was international in character and also fostered
sentiments of Greek nationality, even though the nation of Greece was centuries away
from realization. The ancient Greeks considered the centre of the world to be in Delphi,
marked by the stone monument known as the omphalos (navel). The sacred precinct
was in the region of Phocis, but its management had been taken away from
the Phocians, who were trying to extort money from its visitors, and had been placed in
the hands of an amphictyony, or committee of persons chosen mainly from Central
Greece. According to the Suda, Delphi took its name from the Delphyne, the she-serpent
(drakaina) who lived there and was killed by the god Apollo (in other accounts the
serpent was the male serpent (drakon ) Python).[4][5]

The sacred precinct occupies a delineated region on the south-western slope of Mount
Parnassus. It is now an extensive archaeological site, and since 1938 a part
of Parnassos National Park. Adjacent to the sacred precinct is a small modern town of
the same name. The precinct is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in
having had a great influence in the ancient world, as evidenced by the various
monuments built there by most of the important ancient Greek city-states, demonstrating
their fundamental Hellenic unity. It would be impossible to remove the influence of the
Delphic oracle from the written history of the times.

Today Delphi is a municipality of Greece as well as a modern town adjacent to the

ancient precinct. The modern town was created by moving its predecessor off the sacred
precinct so that the latter could be excavated by the French School of Archaeology
working in conjunction with Greek authorities. The two Delphis, old and new, are located
on Greek National Road 48 between Amfissa in the west and Livadeia, capital of Voiotia,
in the east. The road follows the northern slope of a pass between Mount Parnassus on
the north and the mountains of the Desfina Peninsula on the south. The peninsula,
triangular in shape, juts into the Gulf of Corinth. The pass is entirely one river valley, that
of the river Pleistos, running from east to west, forming a natural boundary across the
north of the Desfina Peninsula, and providing an easy route across it.

On the east side the valley joins the north-south valley leading from Davleia to Distomo,
both good-sized towns. South of Distomo the valley intersects the Bay of Antikyra, which
offers no port at that location. The site is known as Paralia Distomou, "the beach of
Distomo." Antikyra, the major port of Phocis, is a little down the coast of the peninsula.

On the west side the valley joins the north-south valley between Amfissa and Itea. The
valley dead-ends at Amphissa. This city is more important today because a route to
the Aegean side of Greece has been pushed through the mountain passes. These now
strategic locations were the scenes of heavy fighting and reprisals during World War II.

On the north side of the valley junction a spur of Parnassus looming over the valley made
narrower by it is the site of ancient Krisa, which once was the ruling power of the entire
valley system. Both Amphissa and Krissa are mentioned in the Iliad's Catalogue of Ships.
[6]
 It was a Mycenaean stronghold. Archaeological dates of the valley go back to the Early
Helladic. Krisa itself is Middle Helladic.[7] These early dates are comparable to the earliest
dates at Delphi, suggesting Delphi was appropriated and transformed by Phocians from
ancient Krisa. It is believed that the ruins of Kirra, now part of the port of Itea, were the
port of Krisa of the same name as it, and that etymologically Kirra comes from Krisa.[8]
Most cursory accounts of Delphi include a phase they call the end of Delphi. After all,
ruins are in evidence, so there must have been a time when the structures they represent
were unruined. Many give the impression that the emperor's sheriff drove up the hill with
a bulldozer and a wrecking ball, or a least an army of wreckers, and went back down the
hill the same day having levelled the site, and that from then on it remained uninhabited.
Although such a sudden event is possible with the equipment of modern times, it did not
generally happen that way in ancient times, except in unusual cases, such as the fall
of Carthage, when the Romans leveled the city and sowed the bare ground with salt so
that nothing would grow there. Even so, the city was rebuilt. Such was never the case for
Delphi. It transitioned from phase to phase. There may never have been a time when the
site had no inhabitants or structures, and no one was interested in living there. It had the
spring and the view.

The ruins in evidence date from the ancient classical period with some in the late antique
period. In order to place them in evidence, the first excavators, the French School of
Athens, had to clear away many tons of rubble. But that rubble contained the habitation
levels of post-classical settlements, which were sacrificed in favor of the earlier ruins. The
lack of this transitional material also gives the impression of a sudden ruination, which is
false. History portrays Delphi as a very popular site. Once in a century or two it was
burned by some interloper, and then promptly rebuilt better than before. After Hellenic
society transitioned from pagan to Christian, Delphi remained just as popular as it had
been. Still pagan, it often honored the Christian emperors, while they allowed it to stand.
Both religions were practiced there side-by-side. Finally, however, use of the oracle fell
off to such a degree that it could no longer be maintained. The other aspects went on: the
Pythian games, the worship of Apollo in the temple. Regretfully the Christian emperors
dealt with all the pagan sites as a loose end. Delphi transitioned to a secular site in which
churches were built. Without the oracle, there was not much point in frequenting a high-
altitude, out-of-the-way place. The population fell off to a small village.

The place had not ended, however. Archaeology and tourism infused it with a whole new
life. It may well be frequented by just as many people as frequented it in classical days. It
earns its own revenue. The geologic problems are just as bad as they were in ancient
times: faults, slippery slopes, earthquakes, rockslides, runoff. As at all major
archaeological sites, the effort to maintain the ruins rivals the original effort to maintain
the structures.

The classical site had flourished because of its popularity. After the change of religion,
popularity and frequentation fell off sharply. The oracle could no longer cover operating
expenses. After a line of Christian emperors, Julian, reigning 361-363 (not long), rejecting
Christianity in favor of Neoplatonism, for which he is called Julian the Apostate,
attempted to restore the prior religions, Paganism and Judaism. He sent his physician to
Delphi to rebuild the Temple of Apollo, and received an oracle for his efforts that "the
speaking water has been silenced," which became known as "the last oracle" and is
recorded by George Kedrenos.[9][b]

The Delphi Archaeological Museum is at the foot of the main archaeological complex, on
the east side of the village, and on the north side of the main road. The museum houses
artifacts associated with ancient Delphi, including the earliest known notation of a
melody, the Charioteer of Delphi, Kleobis and Biton, golden treasures discovered
beneath the Sacred Way, the Sphinx of Naxos, and fragments of reliefs from
the Siphnian Treasury. Immediately adjacent to the exit is the inscription that mentions
the Roman proconsul Gallio.

Entries to the museum and to the main complex are separate and chargeable. A reduced
rate ticket gets entry to both. There is a small cafe, and a post office by the museum.
The ruins of the Temple of Delphi visible today date from the 4th century BC, and are of
a peripteral Doric building. It was erected by Spintharus, Xenodoros, and Agathon on the
remains of an earlier temple, dated to the 6th century BC which itself was erected on the
site of a 7th-century BC construction attributed in legend to the
architects Trophonios and Agamedes.[16]

Ancient tradition accounted for four temples that successively occupied the site before
the 548/7 BC fire, following which the Alcmaeonids built a fifth. The
poet Pindar celebrated the Alcmaeonids' temple in Pythian 7.8-9 and he also provided
details of the third building (Paean 8. 65-75). Other details are given
by Pausanias (10.5.9-13) and the Homeric Hymn to Apollo (294 ff.). The first temple was
said to have been constructed out of olive branches from Tempe. The second was made
by bees out of wax and wings but was miraculously carried off by a powerful wind and
deposited among the Hyperboreans. The third, as described by Pindar, was created by
the gods Hephaestus and Athena, but its architectural details included Siren-like figures
or "Enchantresses", whose baneful songs eventually provoked the Olympian gods to
bury the temple in the earth (according to Pausanias, it was destroyed by earthquake and
fire). In Pindar's words (Paean 8.65-75, Bowra translation), addressed to the Muses:
Muses, what was its fashion, shown
By the skill in all arts
Of the hands of Hephaestus and Athena?
Of bronze the walls, and of bronze
Stood the pillars beneath,
But of gold were six Enchantresses
Who sang above the eagle.
But the sons of Cronus
Opened the earth with a thunderbolt
And hid the holiest of all things made.
Away from their children
And wives, when they hung
Their lives on the honey-hearted words.
The fourth temple was said to have been constructed from stone by Trophonius and
Agamedes.[17] However, a new theory gives a completely new explanation of the
above myth of the four temples of Delphi.[18]
The stoa, or open-sided, covered porch, is placed in an approximately E-W alignment
along the base of the polygonal wall retaining the terrace on which the Temple of Apollo
sits. There is no archaeological suggestion of a connection to the temple. The stoa
opened to the Sacred Way. The nearby presence of the Treasury of the Athenians
suggests that this quarter of Delphi was used for Athenian business or politics, as stoas
are generally found in market-places.
Although the architecture at Delphi is generally Doric, a plain style, in keeping with the
Phocian traditions, which were Doric, the Athenians did not prefer the Doric. The stoa
was built in their own preferred style, the Ionic order, the capitals of the columns being a
sure indicator. In the Ionic order they are floral and ornate, although not as much as the
Corinthian, which is in deficit there. The remaining porch structure contains seven fluted
columns, unusually carved from single pieces of stone (most columns were constructed
from a series of discs joined together). The inscription on the stylobate indicates that it
was built by the Athenians after their naval victory over the Persians in 478 BC, to house
their war trophies. At that time the Athenians and the Spartans were on the same side.

Delphi is perhaps best known for its oracle, the Pythia, or sibyl, the duty priestess
prophesying from the tripod in the sunken adyton of the Temple of Apollo. Apollo spoke
through his oracle. She had to be an older woman of blameless life chosen from among
the peasants of the area. Alone in an enclosed inner sanctum (Ancient Greek adyton –
"do not enter") she sat on a tripod seat over an opening in the earth (the "chasm").
According to legend, when Apollo slew Python its body fell into this fissure and fumes
arose from its decomposing body. Intoxicated by the vapors, the sibyl would fall into a
trance, allowing Apollo to possess her spirit. In this state she prophesied. The oracle
could not be consulted during the winter months, for this was traditionally the time when
Apollo would live among the Hyperboreans. Dionysus would inhabit the temple during his
absence.[44]

The time to consult pythia for an oracle during the year is determined from astronomical
and geological grounds related to the constellations of Lyra and Cygnus but[clarification
needed]
 the hydrocarbon vapors emitted from the chasm.[45] Similar practice was followed in
other Apollo oracles too.[46]

While in a trance the Pythia "raved" – probably a form of ecstatic speech – and her
ravings were "translated" by the priests of the temple into elegant hexameters. It has
been speculated that the ancient writers, including Plutarch who had worked as a priest
at Delphi, were correct in attributing the oracular effects to the sweet-
smelling pneuma (Ancient Greek for breath, wind or vapor) escaping from the chasm in
the rock. That exhalation could have been high in the known anaesthetic and sweet-
smelling ethylene or other hydrocarbons such as ethane known to produce violent
trances. Though this theory remains debatable the authors put up a detailed answer to
their critics.[47][48][49]

Ancient sources describe the priestess using “laurel” to inspire her prophecies. Several
alternative plant candidates have been suggested
including Cannabis, Hyoscyamus, Rhododendron and Oleander. Harissis claims that a
review of contemporary toxicological literature indicates that oleander causes symptoms
similar to those shown by the Pythia, and his study of ancient texts shows that oleander
was often included under the term "laurel". The Pythia may have chewed oleander leaves
and inhaled their smoke prior to her oracular pronouncements and sometimes dying from
the toxicity. The toxic substances of oleander resulted in symptoms similar to those of
epilepsy, the “sacred disease,” which may have been seen as the possession of the
Pythia by the spirit of Apollo.[50]

The Delphic oracle exerted considerable influence throughout the Greek world, and she
was consulted before all major undertakings including wars and the founding of colonies.
[i]
 She also was respected by the Greek-influenced countries around the periphery of the
Greek world, such as Lydia, Caria, and even Egypt.

The oracle was also known to the early Romans. Rome's seventh and last king, Lucius
Tarquinius Superbus, after witnessing a snake near his palace, sent a delegation
including two of his sons to consult the oracle.[52]
In 83 BCE a Thracian tribe raided Delphi, burned the temple, plundered the sanctuary
and stole the "unquenchable fire" from the altar. During the raid, part of the temple roof
collapsed.[53] The same year, the temple was severely damaged by an earthquake, thus it
fell into decay and the surrounding area became impoverished. The sparse local
population led to difficulties in filling the posts required. The oracle's credibility waned due
to doubtful predictions.[54]

The oracle flourished again in the second century CE during the rule of emperor Hadrian,
who is believed to have visited the oracle twice and offered complete autonomy to the
city.[53] By the 4th century, Delphi had acquired the status of a city.[55] Constantine the
Great looted several monuments, most notably the Tripod of Plataea, which he used to
decorate his new capital, Constantinople.[citation needed]

Despite the rise of Christianity across the Roman Empire, the oracle remained a religious
center throughout the 4th century, and the Pythian Games continued to be held at least
until 424 CE;[55] however, the decline continued. The attempt of Emperor Julian to revive
polytheism did not survive his reign.[53] Excavations have revealed a large three-
aisled basilica in the city, as well as traces of a church building in the sanctuary's
gymnasium.[55] The site was abandoned in the 6th or 7th centuries, although a single
bishop of Delphi is attested in an episcopal list of the late 8th and early 9th centuries.[55]